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MOREHOUSE
A CAMPUS NEWSLETTER FOR FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS
FEBRUARY 2011
Marcellus Barksdale '65 talks
about the founding of Morehouse
Chinese Studies Program celebrates
Year of the Rabbit
Morehouse College Glee Club
celebrates its 100th Year
Maroon Tigers look to rebuild
basketball legacy
iSW 20//
Morehouse Celebrates 144 Years of
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
I n 1866, Richard Coulter
walked into Platt Brothers
Furniture to talk with minis
ter and cabinetmaker William
Jefferson White about an idea.
The two met on the third floor,
with Coulter handing White a let
ter from the Rev. Edward Turney
of the National Theological
Institute in Washington, D.C. The
idea: to start a school to educate
former Negro slaves, much like
Turney’s institution. White agreed
to lead the effort. One year later
and based out of Springfield
Baptist Church, the Augusta
Institute was born.
One hundred and forty-four
years later, that effort has grown
and flourished into what is now
Morehouse College, the nation’s
top liberal arts college, according to
Washington Monthly magazine.
For five days, the Morehouse
community will come together to
celebrate the work of Coulter,
Turney and especially White.
“During Founder’s Week,
Morehouse Men and future men of
Morehouse gather to celebrate not
just longevity, but excellence,” said
President Robert M. Franklin 75.
“Part of that excellence comes
through the acknowledgement that
we are not perfect; rather, we con
tinue to seek to find our best selves.”
The week of celebration,
reflection and discussion includes:
• The plight of black men will be
examined during the 3rd
Excellence
Founder William Jefferson White
Annual Black Male Summit,
“Boys to Men: Interrogating
Assumptions About Black
Male Development” on Friday,
Feb. 18 in the Bank of America
Auditorium. Psychology pro
fessor David Wall Rice ’95 will
moderate the panel discussion
with television judge Glenda
(continued on page 4)
Education Secretary Urges Morehouse Students to
Serve Their Country by Becoming Teachers
BY ADD SEYMOUR JR.
WHEN DERRICK DALTON grew up, education
didn’t hold the same importance each day at his
house as did just getting by.
“I was from a household where education
was not a priority,” he told a capacity-audience in
the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center during
the “Just Another Day at the Office,” town hall
meeting on the importance of elementary and
secondary teachers in America.
“But I had teachers along the way who
helped pick me up,” said Dalton, now the princi
pal at Mundy’s Mill High School in suburban
Atlanta. “I made a decision that I would make a
difference in the lives of people like myself”
It is a lesson that Dalton - along with Atlanta
teacher Christopher Watson, U.S. Rep. John
Lewis, filmmaker Shelton “Spike” Lee ’79,
MSNBC’s Jeff Johnson, President Robert M.
Franklin 75 and U.S. Education Secretary Arne
Duncan - hopes more young black men will
learn from.
Sponsored by Morehouse College and the
U.S. Department of Education, the town hall
meeting is part of a national initiative to get more
(continued on page 4)
Education Secretary Arne Duncan (third from left) leads a discussion in the Emma and Joe Adams
Concert Hall.
President
Assembles
Renaissance
Commission
to Help Chart
College's Future
As Morehouse recollects
and revels in its achieve
ments over the last 144
years, nearly 100 of the
nation’s foremost business,
civic and political leaders
and alumni will convene in
the Executive Leadership
Center to pool their expert
ise and best thinking into
plans and strategies for the
College’s future.
“To ensure that we have
both the financial and the
intellectual resources we
will need to ensure that
future, I have created the
Renaissance Commission,”
said President Robert M.
Franklin 75.
The Morehouse College
Renaissance Commission is
a volunteer group of
“thought leaders” and
fundraisers who will help
chart the course as
Morehouse heads towards
its 150th anniversary in
2017. As they meet during
the week of the Founder’s
Day observance, they will
focus on nine areas:
• Financial viability
• Academic enterprise
• Student development
• Leadership and civic
engagement
• Internationalization
• Technology
• Green practice and sus
tainability
• Competitive advantage
• History of the College
The Commission will
then present a set of recom
mendations that the Board of
Trustees, the president and
senior staff will use as they
develop the College’s strate
gic plan for 2013 to 2018.
“Like the vision of
William Jefferson White
143 years ago, we now
have an opportunity to
image again—to think
and rethink about what
might be possible 20, 50,
100, 150 years from now
if we embrace and
fund—bold new possibil
ities for 21st century
leadership at Morehouse
College,” said Franklin. ■